Apparently the talents of the Swiss mountain biker, Christopher Sauser, are not merely restricted to winning major international mountain bike events.<\/p>\n
He is also a coach who has the knack to get riders to believe in their own cycling abilities and become winners in their own right.<\/p>\n
Erik Kleinhans (RE:CM), Sauser\u2019s latest prot\u00e9g\u00e9, is a good example of this. During the past weekend (9-10 February) Kleinhans won the second stage of Ride the Rock in the Cederberg.<\/p>\n
Judging by his performance in the Attakwas ultra-race in which he finished third, just behind Sauser, chances are good that he might be one of the major role players at the UCI MTN Sabie ultra-race (23 February).<\/p>\n
Kleinhans was unlucky at the MTN Barberton ultra-race. He was up there with the leaders until the last few kilometres but, unfortunately, when it really mattered he was brought to an abrupt halt by mechanical problems.<\/p>\n
Kleinhans is not one to speculate beforehand on the possible outcome of a race.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be great if I could hold my current good form until Sabie, but just keep in mind that Sabie is an UCI-sanctioned race. This means that some of the world\u2019s best riders will be competing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Germany\u2019s Karl Platt (four-time winner of the Absa Cape Epic) and his Bulls teammates will be there. Their participation alone will be enough to change everybody\u2019s approach to the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I can promise this. If I have good legs and there is an opportunity, I will definitely do my best to make the most of it. But remember, mountain biking is a very unpredictable sport. Nothing is ever certain until you have reached the finish.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far this season, the turn-about in Kleinhans has been one of the major surprises. <\/p>\n
Last year Kleinhans and his wife, Ariane, dominated the mixed categories of all the important local tours.<\/p>\n
They were victorious at the Joburg2C, Sani2C and the Cape Epic and many people believed that Kleinhans was at best a rider who excels in mixed category races.<\/p>\n
But this is not true any longer. What brought about this change? \u201cI could not have made a better decision than to start training with Christoph (Sauser) since January.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is now my official coach and he works out my training schedules. It is a great motivation if a former world champion is prepared to help you. I think the most important thing that Christoph did was to persuade me to ride out of my comfort zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing part of the RE:CM Team is another reason for my better results. It certainly helps if you belong to a team and your only worry is riding your bike.<\/p>\n
According to Kleinhans his wife, Ariane, will be hard to beat at Sabie.<\/p>\n
Ariane Kleinhans won the Ride the Rock womens\u2019 tour overall and she was also victorious at Attakwas.<\/p>\n
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